Get all 10 Ryan Burns & The Vocal Ghosts releases available on Bandcamp and save 15%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of A Sign of Things to Come, Empty Pools and Golden Leaves, Beyond the Moon (Acoustic), Static Year, These Flowers/Staring at the Sun, Empty Streets, Mistakes Were Made, Amtrak to Albuequerque/Billionaires are Dying, and 2 more.
1. |
Pride of the Prairie
02:07
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2. |
Electric Drummer
02:32
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Walking through the street
Why’s there so much heat
Every summer
Dancin’ on the side
To broken beats of my
Electric drummer
I’ve got a brand new feelin’
Brand new feelin’ oh oh
And my mind is reelin’
Don’t stop reelin’ no no
Bossa nova’s hip
And I don’t want to skip
Another number
Find the hottest hand
Stick them in a band and
Take a runner
It’s that same old feelin’
Same old feelin’, oh oh
My mind is reelin’
I’ve hit the ceilin’, oh no
Give me one chance to blow your mind
And I’ll sing you to the floor
In double four time
Folk songs make you think
But sometimes when you drink
You need a stunner
Festivals of sound
Nothing that’s around
Will pull me under
Someone’s calling
Someone’s calling my name
I hope you’re hearing
Hope you’re hearing the same
Give me one chance to blow your mind
And I’ll sing you to the floor
In double four time
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3. |
Hey Navigator
03:45
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Hey navigator
In your green jumpsuit
Walking round the corner
Are you lonely, too?
I said hey navigator
Standing in the tall grass
Tell me are you getting somewhere
Are you getting there fast
Hey navigator
With your sleeve tattoo
Walking round the city
In your white pants and shoes
Are the buildings fascinating
Should I save you from this man
Or am I part of the problem
I know that I am
We’re all lost and the lost will not be found
Land and sea will hear our mournful sound
What I found
Hey navigator
How you doing in this heat
Assaulting with your guitar
Cluttering the streets
I know you want to play the blues man
So does everybody else
See you navigate that G scale
And the fear that’s in your chest
We’re all lost and the lost will not be found
Land and sea will hear our mournful sound
What I Found
Hey navigator
Will you answer for your deeds
Sailing in your tall ships
While you subjugate the meek
You know you’re not the only sailor
We're all out on this sea
Got your suit and tie on tight now
Is this all you want to be?
We’re all lost and the lost will not be found
Land and sea will hear our mournful sound
What I found
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4. |
Maria
03:17
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Oh Maria you're a vision in fall
Colors in the night
A flower growing straight and tall
Searching for the light
Just the sight of you makes grown men weep
But I've got to get you out of my head you are not mine to keep
Did I meet you on the ocean floor
A treasure lost at see
Or was it you who sparked the Trojan war
Destined to be queen
Oh I can't forget you, but I can recall where we met
Oh Maria I have heard you're trouble, but in how much can we get
Pull my heart out gently
Don't push the knife right through me
At night you whisper softly
Good night, sweet dreams, my love
Give me one more chance to make you mine
You know I've failed before
I've gone and left the past behind
The ravages of war
Oh there's only one thing in this world that I have left
You've turned saint into sinner and all my promises I've kept
Pull my heart out gently
Don't push the knife right through me
At night you whisper softly
Good night, sweet dreams, my love
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5. |
Head on the Desk
03:04
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Head on the Desk (R. Burns, 2019)
Ryan Burns - Lead Vox, Banjo, E Guitar
Brian Weakly - Bass Guitar
Brian Olamit - Drums, Percussion
David Thrift - Backing Vox
Jess McIntosh - Backing Vox
Emily Nott - Backing Vox
Sam Ocean - Organ
Will Phalen - Bells
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6. |
Road Less Taken
02:25
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Won’t be back til morning
The killing train is right behind
Here without a warning
If I don’t look now I might be dying
And I go where my father leads
Through the snow and the falling leaves
Oh this road should be taken less
Now we’re gone, but I fear for the rest
Dirt climbs up my legs now
Ain’t washed them since I left your side
My walking blues are gone, gone
If you offered now I’d take that ride
And I go where my father leads
Through the snow and the falling leaves
Oh this road should be taken less
Now we’re gone, but I fear for the rest
And I go where my father leads
Through the snow or the falling leaves
Oh this road should be taken less
Now we’re gone, but I fear for the rest
I was low, singin’ lifts me up
As I drink from this beggars cup
I don’t know how far down this gets
Sun will rise, but it will always set
I’m back by your side now
There’s words I wish that I could say
I made it through the evening
If it weren’t for you I’d die today
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7. |
Red River
03:21
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I watch the inside of my mind again
The same shit I’ve watched 10,000 times before
Calls me to war
A red river runs through my heart again
Drums keep pounding in my temples
The beat of ages, the beat of wasted years
Of simple fears
They say the beat goes on
Fall asleep
Fall asleep somehow
You can’t change the past
And the future is not right now
Must be new to you
It’s new to me I know
But pretty soon
It’ll be time to go
It calls me back to the center
The eye of the storm 10,000 miles wide
I dare not leave it
I cannot move and I can’t be still
A flood of words in technicolor
Washed ashore with the wreckage of my life
I thought I tried
I guess my best ain’t enough
Fall asleep
Fall asleep somehow
You can’t change the past
And the future is not right now
Must be new to you
It’s new to me I know
But pretty soon
It’ll be time to go
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8. |
Amtrak to Albuquerque
05:19
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Got nobody to blame
Riding all night on a Southbound train
Took something for the pain
I see the stars, but it looks like rain
The attendant asks how I feel
I say I'm fine, but I must look like hell
How could I get across
The crushing pain of a minor loss
I want to hurt so bad
But it makes me cry cuz I ain't that sad
Someone help me to understand
Why I feel like I feel
Some vending machines are the dining car
But I couldn't tell you just where they are
I need to stretch my legs, tune my guitar
Maybe find myself a lonely bar
As we pull in to a brand new town
Well it's a brand new place to let you down
I want to hurt so bad
But it makes me cry cuz I ain't that sad
Someone help me to understand
Why I feel like I feel
I don't know what I'd do
In a world without you
I don't know what I'd do
In a world without you
I want to hurt so bad
But it makes me cry cuz I ain't that sad
Someone help me to understand
Why I feel like I feel
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9. |
Billionaires are Dying
04:47
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Billionaires are dying
But all these dying prayers ain't worth a dime
I wish that I was lying
And all these wasted words word save us time
But your prayers won't cure cancer
No God knows everyone will someday die
And all of our lives
Are over in the blinking of an eye
We're all ghosts
And we lay in concrete vaults under the sun
On the Southern coast
Come hell or higher water don't you run
No don't you boast
I'll steal all of your flowers when you're gone
Won't you come in close
'Cuz we're all ghosts
We built these walls around us
Now they tumble to the ground around our feet
No we can't all be builders
We can't change the people that we meet
My flesh might be willing
But my mind it has always proven week
And I could make a killing
Selling you regrets you should not seek
We're all ghosts
And we lay in concrete vaults under the sun
On the Southern coast
Come hell or higher water don't you run
No don't you boast
I'll steal all of your flowers when you're gone
Won't you come in close
'Cuz we're all ghosts
Won't you walk on
Walk on ahead of me
Won't you walk on
Walk on and be free
We're all ghosts
And we lay in concrete vaults under the sun
On the Southern coast
Come hell or higher water don't you run
No don't you boast
I'll steal all of your flowers when you're gone
Won't you come in close
'Cuz we're all ghosts
Yeah we're all ghosts
And we lay in concrete vaults under the sun
On the Southern coast
Come hell or higher water don't you run
No don't you boast
I'll steal all of your flowers when you're gone
Won't you come in close
'Cuz we're all ghosts
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10. |
Mistakes Were Made
03:51
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There's an itching in my skin
A vibration in my bones
And if I sit still I think I might explode
But if I tell you all of my problems you'll just laugh in my face
It's a corrugated lie
It's a flimsy truth
And I really wish I had a little picture of you
So I could practice all my lines and hell I'd practice yours, too
Mistakes were made
The lie of fate
The bonds we break
I'm always late
Call my bluff
I'm not so tough
I've had enough
This song's not about love
There's a pile of bricks
Where the bike shop was
There's a man who makes it worse with everything that he does
And if I told you that man was me well how surprised would you be
This elevator's packed
Let's just take the stairs
I'd rather take a walk with somebody who cares
Who needs a box full of strangers I've still got this box of regrets
Mistakes were made
The lie of fate
The bonds we break
I'm always late
Call my bluff
I'm not so tough
I've had enough
This song's not about love
If the world had to end
I would do my best
I tend to do better when it's some kind of test
But it won't be my fault when this all blows up in your face
Mistakes were made
The lie of fate
The bonds we break
I'm always late
Call my bluff
I'm not so tough
I've had enough
This song's not about love
Mistakes were made
The lie of fate
The bonds we break
I'm always late
Call my bluff
I'm not so tough
I've had enough
This song's not about love
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11. |
Jealous of the Saints
02:01
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You’ve got your halo of dark
And you’re starved for attention honey
But you’ve come too far to not know
To not know who you are
You’re jealous of the saints
You want to be just like the martyr’s who have come before you
Holding hands with an angel and a devil at your side
So you’re hiding from the truth
Got the answers in your hands, but a cloth over your eyes
And a faith no tyrant or age could ever break or steal
Never break or steal
You’ve got your halo of dark
And you’re starved for attention honey
But you’ve come too far to not know
To not know who you are
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12. |
Fallen Angel
02:47
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Fallen angel
Please come back among the living
I know it’s harder
The sidewalk’s cracked and the sky is grey
But I’ve always loved you
And they say that’s all you need
Yeah, but they’re all liars
Or delusional at best
And they’re the fallen
With torn up wings and empty eyes
Perhaps I’ll fall, too
Join you on the darkened path
And pray to myself
Pray to man and not to God
Fallen angel
What is heaven really like?
Are the people nice there?
What’s the big deal all about
Those gates of pearl?
When did blank white become ideal
Can you forgive me
I left the dishes in the sink
And I watched the world burn
I’m still not sure which one is worse
But I know I’m the problem
That’s the one fact that I know
Please come back angel
I just can’t do this by myself
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13. |
Beside the Moon
03:03
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Stay inside where it’s safe and stale
I’ll be home real soon
We’re happy here sitting all alone
Here beside the moon
You saved me from the depths of space
Save us from ourselves
Take my hand or set me free
The dance we know so well
Let me fall
Let me burn on my way
Back to Earth
Take it alll
Take the sun from my sky
Give me worth
Something old and something new
Lend me all your blue
Stars will shine in darkened times
Like they always do
Take it all
Let me burn on my way
Back to Earth
When I’m tall
Take the sun from my sky
Give me worth
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14. |
One's Just One
02:38
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Draped in red
Can’t get out of bed
Getting warm outside
Screaming in my head
I’m cold as stone
Might as well be alone
Your close but my mind is far
Will as hard as bone
Mind’s made up
Room full of empty cups
Got my plans all straight
But I have no luck
This deal ain’t done
I’m my father’s son
Left with trees and thoughts
Guess this one’s just one
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15. |
Static Year
04:54
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Burnin’ candle
Fickle shadows in the dark
Couldn’t handle
An open flame no not a spark
Watch the sunrise
Shadows dance and melt away
Every mornin’
Sharper edges take their place
I can’t find the words to make you need me
And I can’t find the words to say it right
Over under
Through the ribbons of my mind
Days won’t go by
No time has not been kind
What’s the hurry
We’ve got this whole year
I’ll find something
How could this all end in tears
I can’t find the words to make you need me
And I can’t find the words to say this right
You’re so hard to hear there’s too much static
And I can’t see your eyes you’re bathed in light
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Ryan Burns & The Vocal Ghosts Chicago, Illinois
Ryan Burns plays genre-bending Americana songs on his banjo and guitar for audiences in Chicago and around the Midwest, winning over listeners with his combination of thoughtful songwriting and cathartic vocals. His debut EP, The Institute, was released in May 2019. ... more
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